Observations, Opportunities & Obstacles
by Pride-of-Slytherin2
Summary: A series of drabbles for the Hogwarts Fair - Mini Golf challenge
1. Prepare to be amazed

_(Chapter Title from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs)_

_[Disney Character Challenge]_  
><strong>Prince Ferdinand:<strong> Write about someone's attraction to a person's one feature. Alternatively, write about Snape and Lily.

_[Represent That Character Challenge II]_

__[Hogwarts Fair 2014 - Mini Golf Obstacle 1: Write a drabble about a child learning how to do something]__

____[If You Dare Challenge - 859. Watch (3/100)]____

* * *

><p><strong>[Prepare to be amazed beyond all expectations]<strong>

It took a long month of practice for Severus to learn how to do it. A month of sneaking away between chores, of finding quiet moments while his father slept, of cutting flower heads off his neighbours plants.

The first time he tried, cut flower in hand, he stared at the flower fiercely, pouring all his concentration into it, but nothing happened. For two weeks he couldn't get the flower to do anything at all: he tried closing his eyes, choosing flowers at different stages of growth, whispering while he concentrated….still, nothing happened.

On the twenty-second day, after a particularly unpleasant morning, Severus poured his concentration into the flower, expecting no results as usual – but to his shock, the flower began to smoke, curling up at the edges until it was a dry shrivelled husk. He swallowed his fear and resolved to keep trying – it wasn't what he'd wanted to achieve but at least something had happened that time.

On the twenty-fourth day he managed to make the flower glow a little before it withered.

On the twenty-seventh day he finally managed it, and it was like a switch went off in his mind – every time he tried, he could do it.

He spent three more days practicing before he finally approached the little red-headed girl in the park, a yet to bloom lily flower clutched in his hand. "Watch," he said quietly, holding it out in his palm, praying that his practice would pay off. He kept his eyes open this time, watching not the flower but Lily's face as the bud slowly opened and bloomed before her eyes. When he saw her amazement, he knew it had all been worth it. With a shy smile, he dropped the flower into her hand. "For you," he whispered.


	2. Bobble & Clank

_[Disney Character Challenge]_  
><strong>Bobble and Clank:<strong> Write about experimenting with magic. Alt write about the Peverell brothers.

_[Represent That Character Challenge II]_

__[Hogwarts Fair 2014 - Mini Golf Obstacle 2: Write a canon-compliant story]__

__[Snakes & Ladders Challege - Ignotus Peverell]__

____[If You Dare Challenge - 502. Death (4/100)]____

* * *

><p>Ignotus was ready for Death. In a world with an average lifespan of 64, where so many died before the age of 21, and yet more were killed by other wizards in their adulthood, Ignotus felt old. He'd outlasted both Cadmus and Antioch, enjoyed a long, happy life with his wife and son, and he knew that now the time had come for him to leave this world.<p>

He rubbed the Cloak of Invisibility between his fingers one last time, admiring the feel of it, the way his fingers on the other side of the cloak appeared completely to have gone. He wondered whether he should leave a note for his son, some explanation as to where the cloak had come from, or to at least warn his son to keep it hidden: he'd learnt from Antioch the folly in boasting about powerful objects and he desperately prayed his son would be smart enough to keep the cloak a secret.

In the end, he decided not to leave a note. He didn't know what future generations would say about the cloak, or about him – if they even remembered him – and perhaps that was for the best. He had no regrets in this life: why write something down that may later turn out to have been foolish? Better to trust in his son, and his son's sons, and their sons after them, to trust that they would be cautious, and to hope that they, like him, would have no regrets upon their death.

He sent a silent fervent wish for his descendants' health and happiness, and he welcomed Death with open arms.


	3. Jane Porter

_[Disney Character Challenge]_  
><strong>Jane Porter:<strong> Write about someone being curious. Alt write about Jordan Lee.  
><strong>Prompt<strong>: Black

_[Represent That Character Challenge II]_

__[Hogwarts Fair 2014 - Mini Golf Obstacle 3: Write something that involves McGonagall, Fred & George and Lee Jordan]__

__[Monopoly Challenge - Pacific Avenue: genre is friendship, prompt is divination, and it must be AU]__

__[19,000 Prompts, 500 Words, One Week Challenge - Terms of Endearment]__

____[If You Dare Challenge - 156. Future (5/100)]____

* * *

><p>The first time Fred Weasley spotted Lee Jordan, he was casually flirting with a girl, distracting her boyfriend with jealousy so he could fitch his wallet. Fred elbowed George discreetly, pointing his head at the boy on the other side of the quad. George spotted him and the twins exchanged a glance – they just knew they were going to get on well.<p>

Once Lee had finished with his theft, Fred and George strolled over and looped an arm each through Lee's elbows. For a second Lee looked worried, until the twins spoke.

"Nicely done, pal" George said with a grin.

"Almost like something we would have done," Fred grinned.

Lee grinned at the twins. "Lee Jordan," he introduced himself.

"Fred Weasley," said the twin on his left.

"George Weasley," said the twin on his right.

"Well Fred, George; what say we go buy ourselves a beer with this wallet?"

"Y'know George," Fred smirked, "I think this could be the start of a beautiful friendship."

And just as quick as that, the three became inseparable.

* * *

><p>Over the next two years the three boys caused untold chaos. They could never stop challenging each other and their list of completed pranks was somewhat unreal. From the time Fred unleashed four goats – labelled 1, 2, 4 and 5 – to the time Lee had snuck into one of their Professor's offices and hidden a fish inside the heating unit to the time George had wrapped the Dean's car entirely in cling film and then spray painted it in tie dye colours; you name it, the boys had probably done it. As the years went on and their friendship strengthened, the challenges got bolder, braver, more dangerous…which is what had led them to now.<p>

Having wondered the entirety of the circus the night before, the three had been driven by boredom to see a 'cartomancer' – a black haired woman with too much incense and even more black eyeliner – who had claimed she would tell their fortune. The woman claimed their destinies were entwined, the reading blurred by their friendship, but she had been able to tell them one thing: one of them at least, would become involved with an older woman.

The boys had scoffed of course, but then it had led to a challenge: which of them could seduce an older woman first? Most specifically, which of them could win the attention of Professor Minerva McGonagall – the entirely strait-laced, domineering new Ancient Languages lecturer, who apparently specialised in runes?

George shook his head "Can't be done mate," he insisted.

"What would you even say?" Lee agreed. "Hi sweetheart, fancy a drink?"

Fred shrugged, that ever-present competitive glint appearing in his eye. "I'm not sure sweetheart would work – something tells me _Minerva _would appreciate a more…sophisticated term of endearment. But I'm sure I could think of something."

Lee and George shared baffled looks "C'mon Fred man, you're good, but you're not **that** good."

Fred just grinned "How much do you wanna bet on that?"


	4. Abu

Contrary to what most people might think, Nymphadora Tonks had not always been cool, or popular, or well-liked. In fact, her first few months at Hogwarts were agonising.

She'd known for a long time that she would be going to Hogwarts – her parents had never hidden the world of magic from her, a feat that would have been quite difficult given the fact that her appearance seemed to change pretty much as and when it felt like it.

So she'd thought she was prepared for Hogwarts. She'd known there were four Houses, and that her mother had been sorted into Slytherin but that her family would support her whichever house she ended up in. She'd known that the castle would be enormous and ever-changing. She'd known the sort of subjects she'd have to study, and she certainly wasn't looking forward to all of those, but still she'd thought she was ready. She was nervous, but she was excited too. There would be hard things to deal with for sure, but there would be magic everywhere – all day, every day! – and awesome food and kids just like her…what could be wrong with that?

Well, as she rapidly found out, actually a fair bit.

First of all, there weren't any kids **just** like her. None of the kids she met could turn their hair purple or change the shape of their nose or the colour of their eyes. Most of the kids her age couldn't do much of anything in fact – Tonks wasn't very good with a wand either, but at least should could play with her abilities and change her appearance.

Another thing Tonks wasn't loving, was that she rapidly discovered that magic wasn't quite as easy as she'd expected. She'd developed a reasonable amount of control over her metamorphagus abilities, and all it took now was some serious concentration. Naively she'd assumed that magic would be like that: some practice and some focus and hey presto.

Only, it wasn't.

Magic, as far as she could tell so far, seemed to be mostly about luck. Sometimes she could get the spell to work, other times nothing happened at all, and occasionally…well occasionally she managed to blow things up.

On top of all of those things she also came attached to the most ridiculous name ever invented, and she was about as co-ordinated as a spider on roller skates.

Between her sporadic magic, her clumsiness and her changing and frequently strange coloured hair, Tonks didn't exactly make friends instantly at Hogwarts. And as time went on without making friends and her stress levels increased, her abilities seemed to go haywire, making her seem even more of an outcast – on the rare occasion someone seemed to be reaching out to her, her excitement always seemed to get the better of her and her hair would start changing colour mid-conversation, which made it seem like she was laughing at people.

It took more than a month before Tonks made anything more than a fleeting connection with anyone, and it came purely by accident. Late for lunch one day, Tonks was running towards the Great Hall when she ran headfirst into someone. Apologising as she picked up her bag and books – which of course had fallen everywhere because as usual her bag was overstuffed and haphazardly packed – she didn't have a clue who she'd run into at first. She looked up when he handed her her Potions textbook, temporarily frozen by the most startling blue eyes.

"Your eyes," he said. "They changed…"

Her heart sank. "Sorry, I didn't mean to."

He grinned, "They look exactly the same colour as mine!"

She shrugged self-consciously, "Sometimes it just happens," she apologised.

He laughed, "It's really cool!"

She blinked at him for a moment. _Cool _is exactly what she'd expected people to think when she arrived at Hogwarts, but once the novelty wore off most seemed to find her changing appearance off-putting and strange. This boy was the first to tell her he thought it was cool.

She smiled hesitantly, "Thanks."

"So," he said cheerfully, "Who are you and what else can you do?"

She laughed, "I'm Tonks."

"Tonks?" He sounded slightly bemused.

"My real name is Nymphadora," she said rolling her eyes, "but isn't that the most ridiculous name ever? So I'm sticking with Tonks, my surname, for now."

"How about Dora?" He said thoughtfully.

She smiled shyly, "That's okay. My dad calls me it too."

He nodded decisively. "Dora it is then. My name's Charlie, Charlie Weasley." He stuck out his hand formally for her to shake.

Shyly, she shook it, thinking to herself that Charlie Weasley was definitely the coolest boy she'd met.

It would be a long long time before another man would change her mind and take Charlie's place.

* * *

><p><em>[Disney Character <strong>Challenge]<strong>_  
><strong>Abu:<strong> Write about someone in a sticky situation. Alternatively, write about Nymphadora Tonks.

_[Represent That Character Challenge II]_

__[Hogwarts Fair 2014 - Mini Golf Obstacle 5: Write about a Hufflepuff]__

____[If You Dare Challenge - 707. Blue Eyes (7/100)]____


	5. This belongs to you, and always will

**[This belongs to you, and always will]**

Hermione was pretty sure she would never understand how she'd ended up in a secret relationship with Pansy Parkinson. Somehow over the last year, Pansy's frequent visits to see Draco in his and Hermione's shared Heads dormitory had become less of a nuisance, and more like routine. The two had gone from hatred, to casual animosity, to occasional civility, to flirtatious banter…until one day Hermione found herself being kissed by the vivacious blonde.

She shook her head, smiling to herself as she headed to the Room of Requirement for their meeting. Logically she had no idea what she was doing, and sometimes in the privacy of her own room Hermione's logical side tried to talk her into calling it all off, but so far it hadn't worked. Somehow all Hermione's rationalisations seemed to fade away when the two were together.

"I don't want to do this anymore," Pansy burst out.

For a second Hermione froze. Even when she and Pansy had started spending time together in private, Hermione had never truly felt like it would go anywhere….and yet somewhere along the way, Hermione realised that perspective had changed. She'd never realised just how seriously she was beginning to care for the Slytherin girl until the girl in question was stood in front of her saying she wanted to end things.

Hermione forced herself not to cry, holding back the tears with every ounce of will she possessed. "Oh, right." She stood up, bending to gather her stuff, determined to get out of there and back to her room where she could cry over her foolish heart in peace, as quickly as humanly possible.

"No wait –" Pansy grabbed Hermione's wrist. "That's not what I meant."

"Oh?" Hermione said coldly, "So what exactly was it that you meant."

Pansy winced. "This is all coming out wrong. Will you just…trust me? I'm not leaving, I swear."

Hermione sat down in the hard-backed chair that had appeared. "I'm listening," she said cautiously.

"Okay," Pansy said, looking more nervous than Hermione had ever seen her. "Okay."

"Growing up, I read all these soppy romance stories of women who called men their better halves, their soul mates, and all these other stuff that sounded like utter crap…but the fact is Granger, you are my better half. You make me feel better about myself. You make me want to be the best I can be."

Pansy laughed self-consciously, "I'm not saying you turn me into a lovesick Hufflepuff or anything but…you make me want to impress you, you make me feel like the good things I do can outweigh the bad I did before."

"I don't want to hide anymore," Pansy said fiercely. "I don't want everyone to think you're going to marry Ron and I'm going to marry Draco. I want to be able to go on dates with you – in public! To touch you in places outside locked rooms. To share our relationship instead of having it feel like something shameful."

Hermione stared at her in shock. "I- I had no idea you felt this strongly."

Pansy rolled her eyes, "Obviously. Don't you want to be free Hermione?"

Hermione took her hand, "Of course I do but…it's not as easy as you make it sound. You say freedom, I say judged."

Pansy snatched her hand back. "Well either I'm worth it or I'm not Hermione, but if you're ashamed of me say so now."

Hermione took Pansy's hand again gently. "Of course not," she said. "I don't love the idea of everyone judging us, of making our relationship fodder for gossip, but it wouldn't be the first time I've had snide comments thrown my way and I'm sure it won't be the last."

"So what's the problem?" Pansy demanded.

"What about your family?" Hermione said timidly. "You said they'd throw you out if you didn't marry the person they picked out for you. And we both know a muggleborn girl is the last person they'd pick."

Pansy shrugged, "My family aren't close like yours are, Hermione. If they don't love me enough to let me make my own choices then let them disown me."

Hermione laughed sadly, "Come on Pansy, you're used to living a life of luxury. If your parents threw you out then after Hogwarts you'd be on your own with no money - you'd be looking at a dingy flat and baked beans for dinner."

"No," Pansy laughed, "We'd be looking at a dingy flat and baked beans."

Hermione laughed too. "You know what I mean though."

For a second Pansy's temper flared, "So you think I'd rather have money than you? I can live without money Hermione, but I can't live without love. Without at least knowing I'd given it a fair chance at least."

Hermione blushed. "So you love me?" she teased.

Pansy rolled her eyes, "Don't you know that by now?"

"Besides," Pansy grinned, "between my connections – even without my parents – and your brains, I don't think we'd have to live off beans for long."

"And what about our friends?" Hermione pushed, hardly daring to hope and determined to push through all the possible problems before she let herself even consider the possibility.

"What about them?"

"Well I can't imagine they're going to take it very well, can you?"

Pansy shrugged, "Draco and Blaise won't care, and everyone else will get over it eventually. And if they don't…fuck them."

Hermione gaped at her for a second. "Well my friends probably won't be so accommodating."

Pansy pulled the brunette close, tucking her arm around her shoulders.

"Yes they will," she said, rolling her eyes, "you guys would do anything for each other. It might take them a while but they'll come around."

She winked, "If I can bring you around to my way of thinking, they'll be easy."

Hermione laughed. "So when you said you didn't want to do this anymore," she said shyly, "you meant the sneaking around? Not-" she gestured vaguely at them and the room, "us?"

Pansy rolled her eyes. "Haven't you been listening? No, not us, I just don't want to sneak around anymore."

"Okay," Hermione whispered nervously.

Pansy stared at her for a second. "You're sure?"

Hermione leant in for a kiss, before grabbing Pansy's hand and pulling her out the door. "Let's go cause some shock," she said with a grin.

"Why Miss Granger, that was almost Slytherin of you," Pansy grinned. Hand in hand the two left the room of requirement, ready to face the comments, but free at last to share their relationship.

* * *

><p><em>[Disney Character Challenge]<em>  
><strong>Tinker<strong> **Bell**: Write about someone who is jealous. Alternatively, write about Hermione Granger.

_[Represent That Character Challenge II]_

__[Hogwarts Fair 2014 - Mini Golf Obstacle 4: Write a story without the words 'Harry' or 'Potter']__

__[Monopoly Challenge - The Luxury Tax is a minimum of 1000 words for this fic. Your prompt is chair.]__

____[If You Dare Challenge - 337. Freedom (6/100)]____

____[Slash/Femmslash Boot Camp Challenge - 49. Free (1/50)]____

____[Scrabble Challenge - Quote: "I can live without money, but I cannot live without love."]____


End file.
